“So that is the situation, Lawrence,” Lord Black said, as he finished his briefing to Lawrence and what he called his Joint Staff.

Lord Black had intended to join his own liege lord, Count Boulevard, as soon as possible and everyone present was in agreement of that fact. However, Lord Black had already made it clear that advancing ahead first may be seen as insulting to certain lords who wish to be seen as leading the vanguard, which is supposedly an incredible honour.

“By the time every lord finishes arguing who should take which position in the campaign, the kingdom will be in flames,” Kaisenberg said, not hiding his low opinion of lords in general. Coughing, Lord Black turned away, hastily drinking a large gulp of his wine.

Upon arrival, Lawrence, Longines and Kraft was immediately ushered into a strategic meeting with Lord Black and Kaisenberg, who showed an overall view of the situation in the kingdom.

“Let’s march tonight then, after the men have rested. A forced march will take them to Castle Skip, just a few kilometers away from the Kaffe Plateau,” Longines said, pointing at the castle which was rumoured to have been abandoned by the Carmine army.

“I disagree. Putting our men on a forced march means they have to fight an enemy in a position that a semi-competent commander would have turned against us. In fact, I say that we should avoid putting ourselves in a situation where we have to siege anything at all. We can dig in around here and sneak a messenger to General Kaffe to breakthrough here and link up with us.”

“By forming a defensive line in front of Colonel Vava’s position, with some luck, we can compel him to move the line forward for a single decisive battle, which is something the Gerheist army should be avoiding.”

Kraft even traced out a possible way to march there. It seemed that he had already been thinking about it before reaching this meeting.

“I agree with Longines, having a castle would be most beneficial to us,” Kaisenberg said – However, his logic was not flawed. With ample food supplies, recapturing Castle Skip was a shot in the arm for morale as well as potentially forcing the enemy to tie down their military strength to prevent any counterattacks from the soldiers within the castle.

A castle, properly manned, defended and supplied can keep thousands, if not the entire army on its toes. There have been many stories of heroic defenders, vastly outnumbered, defending castles until reinforcements that could turn the tide arrived.

“With enough time, the lords can assemble and counterattack. I may not like how they do things, but the lords, when they get their shit together… Can properly do battle…” Kaisenberg said.

“It will take too much time. Right now, the situation stands that without decisive action, the capital will fall. And he who controls the capital controls the nation,” Kraft gently rebutted.

“Lawrence? What do you think?” Lord Black asked Lawrence, who had maintained an expression of neutrality, tapping on years of experience as a salaryman.

“First of all, I would like answers to a few questions. Can someone get Trey in here please?” Lawrence said and the door opened, presumably Longines who had gone off to get Trey who had been waiting outside.

“Trey, what is the situation with Colonel Vava’s defensive line? How long do you think it can hold?” Lawrence asked and the spymaster tapped his chin.

“The narrative is that it is impenetrable, with most of their new camps on hillsides and rather crude wooden stake defenses driven into the ground… But, from what I am aware of, the defensive line can be entirely cut off from the rest of the kingdom.

“How?” Lawrence asked and Trey walked up to the map.

“You see, the defensive line has one thing in common. Their source of water is Lake Camilia. By surrounding them for awhile and depriving them of water, having infantry charging down hills is not the most brilliant idea.”

“I give them a week at most, which is a worthwhile investment into destroying the entire army of this Kingdom,” Trey said and Kraft nodded silently.

“Second question. How long do you think the lords will take to actively begin in the defense of the nation?” Lawrence asked and Trey shrugged.

“Assuming the General Staff gets them in line… 3 weeks? 4? Hard to tell. But that’s my best estimate. The fact that the King will be putting up a reward for those who have made huge contributions to the campaign actually is not helping. They will wish to fight over the various positions in the vanguard, flagbearer and many others. Some may even argue who to take the flank, because fighting off a flanking maneuver is a large contribution by itself,” Trey replied and Lord Black’s face considerably darkened.

“Why, are you sad that you’re missing out on the action?” Lawrence said jokingly and Lord Black sighed.

“War is expensive, Lawrence. If I were half as rich as them, I won’t mind arguing with them. I just want to stay in my land, but Count Boulevard has already activated his banners. Failing to do so will make me a traitor to the realm.”

“So, Lawrence? What is your choice?” Lord Black asked and Lawrence stared at the map for a few moments.

“Trey, do you think we have a good chance to smash into the units surrounded General Kaffe and force a general withdrawal of the Gerheist army?”

“Unlikely. However, I do think you have a good chance of relieving General Kaffe for him to withdraw, regroup and fight again.”

“General Kaffe’s men are battle hardened soldiers. One of them is easily worth ten of Colonel Vava’s. Their loss would be significant,” Kraft added on subtly and Lawrence nodded.

“We have a plan then. We’re going to help our allies.”